5 
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NEW PATENTS, 
f 216 ) é 
[Septs 
Exrolled in the Months of Auguft and September. 
Mr. SHELDRSKE’s PRUSSES. 
(With Four Plates. ) 
ie a preceding Number we flightly 
noticed 2 Patent which was obtained 
by Mr. SHELDRAKE, of the Strand, 
Trufs-maker, for a method of curing 
diftortions of the feet, legs, fpine, &c. 
Having now obtained a more copious 
acccunt of it,. we have annexed the 
plates, for the fatisfaéiion of thevfaculty, 
and thofe who 2re fubject ro the imper- 
feétions intended to be removed. 
The general principle of Mr. SHEL- 
DRAKE'S invention Is effeéted by the 
continual, repeated, and varied applica- 
tion of fpriags, confiru€ted with ban- 
ce 
o 
dages, in fuch a manner as to conftitute 
the efficient part of the application. 
The fprings are to be varied and modt- 
fied as circumftances require, until the 
deformity is entirely eradicated. 
Mr. SHELDRAKE thus defcribes the 
application of his invention to diftor- 
tion iffuing from the curvature of bones, 
as it exifis in the cafe of deformed legs, 
whether the offilious inclination be con- 
vex, or the contrary. Figures 1 and 2 
(fee Plates) repreient a child’s leg, bend- 
ing outwards ; the lines marked a, 4, ¢, 
in both figures, reprefent the curved 
fpring intended to correct this deformity; 
it is evident if this {pring, by bandage, 
er otherwife, at 2, d, and, ¢, in fig. 1, 
or 4, d, in fig. 2, brought into contact 
with the leg, the infide of the knee, as 
at @, in fig. 1, and a, in fig. 2, and bot- 
tom of the leg, which correfpond wit! 
the ends of the fpring, will form reft- 
ing points for the {pring to act from, 
while its re-aétion, by producing pref- 
fure on the projeéting part of the curve 
of the leg, reduces the bone to its wifhed- 
for ftate. 
The following is the manner of con. 
firu€ting the inftrument for curing the 
deformities of the leg, as it is defcribed 
by drawings in fiz. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7; 
the foot-piece whereof is made of calf- 
fkin, in the form of a common half-boot, 
to lace in front, with-a fole of iron; on 
the outfide of this fole is affixed a piece 
cf fteel, or other convenient meta!, as 
in f, cg, in figures 3 and 4, to £0 1m 2 per- 
pendicular dire€tion as high as the ancle- 
joint at ¢3 with this I conneét, by means 
ef a joint, another piece of fteel, as a, 4, 
in fiz. $, to goas high as the knee; upon 
vhis as riveted, tranfverfely, as many 
< 
F873 
Pieces of tin, in joints, as¢, 4 ¢, fin 
fiz. §, of about half an inch wide, as 
will reach from the ancle to the knee, 
and broad enough to cover half the cir- 
cumference of the leg the whole way ;_ 
another piece of iron is continued, as a, 4, 
in fg. 6, and 4, #,in fig. 3, to the hip- 
Joint; this is conneéted with the leg by 
a joint at the knee, 4, in fg. 3, to allow 
the knee to move in its natural direétion, 
and is connected, by means of a {wivel- 
joint, the better to allow the hip to move. 
in its natural direétion, with a bandage, 
as ¢, d, ¢, in fig. 6, which goes round the 
waift; and on the outfide of that fteel to 
which is affixed the tranfverfe pieces of 
tin, is affixed another {pring, a, 4, ¢ in 
this he calls the /Zeleion of the 
inftrument ; the foot-piece bemg lined 
me 
with any foft mater:als to prevent the 
fteel galling the foot, the reft of the leg 
being guarded in the fame manner. To’ 
apply this apparatus, the foot muft firft 
be laced tight into the part of the fkele- 
ton which is intended to receive it, a, 4, 
é, d, €, in fe. 3. The parts po aeeeas 
then to be moulded as near to the form 
of the leg as poffible, and the bandage 
to be laced as tight as can be borne ; the 
upper part is to be laced adfo in the fame 
manner, and faftened with the {trap round 
the wait. The bandages are to be fhifted 
in proportion as the curvature decreafes, 
until a fatisfatory cure is performed. 
The method of curing deformity from 
improper combination of bones, is exem- 
plified by fg. 8 and 9, which reprefent 
a leg of that kind; the lines a, 3, ¢, ia 
each figure, reprefent the curved [pring 
intended to cure-this deformity. In de- 
formities from curvatures of bones, the 
bones alone are objeéts of attention, every 
thing that covers them being merely paf- 
five or flexible ; but, in diftortions from 
improper combination of bones, the muf- 
cles, tendons, and ligaments, connected 
therewith, become equally objeéts of at- 
tention, as there exifts, at times, difeafes 
of the mufcles and tendons, which may 
originally caufe the deformity. In the 
deformity, reprefented in fg. 8 and g, 
where the derangement of the con- 
neéting ligaments of the jsint, the lofs 
of power in the mufcies of the leg, and 
confequent diminifhed capacity for ufe in 
the patient, are merely confequences of 
the derangement in the relative pofitien 
of the bones ; hence, any improper com- 
bination of the mutches, &c. is to be 
sured 
